


Honey

by Freckledbun



Category: Persona 5
Genre: A little comfort, Blood and Gore, Hurt, M/M, Spoilers, till the end of the game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2018-12-17 05:19:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11844741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freckledbun/pseuds/Freckledbun
Summary: Akechi had nothing left to lose. He decided he could devote all his time and energy to revenge towards the person that took everything from him. If he couldn't be happy, he'd be happy dragging everyone down with him.





	1. Chapter 1

“Akiraaaaa~”

The trickster cupped a hand over his own mouth, his eyes wide and wild. He didn’t want Akechi to hear his heavy breathing, labored from running. He was crouched down, leaning against a soft blue wall inside a cell in the Velvet Room. He’d gone in to hide from the boy chasing him and was hoping he’d leave again soon in one piece. They’d had a confrontation in Mementos and Akechi won by a landslide. Akira just wasn’t strong enough to hold his own against Loki, so he turned on his heels and took right off before he could sustain any more damage and be unable to flee. He wasn’t entirely expecting Akechi to pursue him this far, but now he was afraid to leave Mementos, lest he lose more than his cognitive self to Akechi’s bloodlust. He could defend his own life where they were, at the very least. He tried to slow his breathing and calm down. All that was needed was to just keep one step ahead and Akechi would get bored eventually and give up for the day. That’s what Akira was hoping at least.

Things had been going on like this for a while now, Akechi showing up with murderous intent. At first Akira was elated to see his friend was alive, but the boy was showing up at weird times; only in Mementos, only when Joker was alone and not paying attention. The moment he’d realized Akechi wasn’t right, that maybe he wasn’t even the real one, Akira didn’t stick around to get more information. He had been running away but ended up getting more curious and more reckless. Now Akechi had bested him; he’d invaded the velvet room, the last safe place Akira knew of, to finish his work. He didn’t doubt that he’d find a way into the overworld soon too, now that he finally had his fight with Akira, now that he had the motivation to follow him to the ends of the earth.

There was a scraping noise, a clanking; it sounded like metal hitting metal. Akira had dropped his blade while running away. Akechi apparently had recovered it and was knocking it against the bars of the cells as he searched, intent on returning it to Akira.

“Akira, I know you’re here somewhere, “ Akechi called out. “Make this easier on yourself. Just surrender to me now and I’ll take pity on you.”

Akira bit his lip. He was running out of options as Akechi advanced on his hiding space. He thought about running again but he wouldn’t make it and there weren’t really any hiding spots left. He thought about fighting again. It seemed to be the only option he had. He reached up for his mask to do just that, but froze. The tip of his knife was pointed right at his eye, threatening to cut it out. Akechi had found him.

“Arsene already lost to me. Did you think things would go differently a second time?” Akechi towered over him with the dagger outstretched. He stared at his rival coldly, calculating what to do now that he caught him.

“Akechi….Goro, please-“

“Don’t call me that!” Akechi spat. “Please what? Please spare you? It’s a little late for that. I gave you a chance to give yourself up but you wanted to play hide and attack. It’s always a game with you. I’m going to show you what playing games gets you.”

Akira tensed and he yelped as Akechi kicked him to the ground. The specter of his friend crouched down over him, a foot on either side of his waist, and plucked the mask from his face. No more personas. He seemed like he was getting a real good look at Akira’s expression, like he was taking a photo in his mind so that he could remember how Akira once was. Akira looked away and felt the tip of his own knife grazing over his cheek. It wasn’t slicing anything just yet.

“Do you know what is even worse than death?”

“…”

“Of course not.” Akechi chuckled to himself. He obviously had been stupid to think Akira could have empathy for his situation.

“What’s worse is being abandoned, isolated, and worthless. It’s worse to give your life away and have that be taken for granted. I did try to help you. It would have never mattered one way or the other to you, would it?” Akechi’s speech caused Akira to finally look up at him. His expression was pained with intensely negative emotions as he spoke. Akira pitied him. None of what he said was true. 

“Don’t look at me like that!” the once detective hissed venomously. He traced Akira’s jaw with the knife, regaining his composure and power as Akira shivered. “As you can see, I’m fine now. I experienced the worst thing imaginable and survived. What I’m going to do to you will only be a small taste of what I felt. I really want us to understand each other. If you really were my friend, despite living your life with everything, if you really cared, you’d give it up for me. If you sink to my level, we can be friends, just like you wanted. What do you say, Akira? Would you go to hell for your so-called ‘friend?’”

Akira stared up at him, completely petrified. He shook his head. They could work things out. They could talk about it. If Akechi was back, that was all that mattered. Everything else could be fixed. He opened his mouth to express his feelings but Akechi cut him off.

“No hero speeches.” He sat on Akira’s chest and dragged the knife over his neck, putting just enough pressure to spill some blood and scare the shit out of him. He smiled sharply as Akira hissed and shut his eyes. Akechi reached down with his free hand to rub his thumb along the cut. The dirt and sweat on his skin made Akira’s neck sting. “I believed you, you know. I believed that you’d change things. Maybe you believed it too, but you didn’t change anything. You wasted the life I gave to you. We can’t talk about this. It won’t help. I won’t be ‘saved’ again by you. If you want me in your life, you can share my pain. I want you lowered down to my level. I want you to be undone like I was. You won’t ever understand from up on your pedestal.”

Akira stayed silent throughout that speech and for a long time after. Akechi was right. He had no idea what his friend had been through. He had friends. He had a life. Any unfairness done onto him, he never thought he couldn’t fix it with his own strength. Even with his failure to right the world. He thought he could fix that too. He finally opened his eyes to look back at Akechi. The boy was impatiently fiddling with the stolen blade.

“Okay.”

Akechi’s eyes widened. Did Akira really just agree with him? He couldn’t say he was expecting to get what he wanted without a fight, but he’d take it. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I will prove to you that we’re friends. I’ll take on your burden for you.” Akira’s demeanor had changed. He was determined to get Akechi to understand his own feelings. So in order to do that, he’d do his best to understand Akechi first.

Akechi set the knife down to the side of them and brushed Akira’s hair aside, caressing his face gently. Akira could sense a powerful aura inside of him as he gathered up his strength. If he used his third eye, he would see his rival wild-card user glowing red.

“This is going to hurt.” Akechi rested his palm on Akira’s forehead. He used the power that Loki had granted him to snap his rival’s cognition. Normally, he would do this at a distance. The proximity to his target definitely affected the severity of his terrible ability. He didn’t relent as Akira started to scream and thrash under his weight. He watched him claw his fingernails half-off on the concrete floor. Tears rolled down his face in waves. Akechi almost felt bad actually, but he kept his hold on Akira’s mind. He’d scramble his cognition until he was nothing more than a husk. Only then would he understand.

Akechi had decided to use his powers on Akira the moment he’d regained consciousness from the incident on Shido’s ship. He’d survived, but at a great cost. He was barely a person anymore. Loki spared him, saved him from his watery death. He chose to continue their contract but he punished Akechi severely for his failure. The ex-detective thoroughly understood his own powers and their effects from personal experience now.

He not only caused a mental shutdown in Akira, but now he knew how to control what he saw. He showed him images of his friends as horrible monsters, tearing into him, and eating him alive. They turned their backs on him and his failure lead to their deaths. He showed him scenarios of him alone. He would feel an eternity pass all alone, his head throbbing with no relief in sight. Every moment was another lifetime of nightmares. Akira had a strong will but no human would be unfazed when faced with the kinds of atrocities a god could think up. Loki’s imagination was vast and wide and he passed on all his ideas to his contractor. Akechi had paid for this creativity in blood and he was going to make Akira shoulder it all just as he had agreed to. That’s what friends were for, right?

When Akira’s screams died down into whimpers, Akechi removed his hand and stood up, leaving him to lay there, a drained shell. He shook his head and stepped out of the cell, watching bars materialize between them at the entrance. Akira’s burning will was snuffed out.

But Akechi didn’t feel any better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for starting another chaptered fic! (Or not.) I haven't abandoned the other two. I just had this scene on my mind for a while and wanted to post it very badly. I'm starting school again on monday so bare with me on updates!


	2. Chapter 2

Everything felt empty. A bitter chill descended upon the Velvet Room like a sudden cold snap. Winter had been eventful, but the lull in activity, the abrupt silence that took hold of the blue prison, finally allowed the frost to infiltrate the deepest layers of Mementos and seep into the already eerie dungeon. A drop of water could be heard, ringing through the room like a deafening siren.

Akira was thoroughly broken. He had lost and the price of his failure was tremendous. He vaguely remembered wanting to try to convince Akechi that there was a bright side of some sort, but he wasn’t sure if he could even convince himself of that now. He felt empty. As he lay there, prone on the floor of his prison, he struggled just to find the will to inhale the icy air of his cell. He had been gravely injured by shadows, the police had beaten him, he’d been drugged, and worse. No misfortune in his life so far compared to what he felt now. He wanted Akechi to come back and finish what he had started. All the joking he’d done about welcoming death was coming back to bite him now. He wholly and truly wanted to die.

It was a fight to stay awake. The strength Akira had left was used to stay inside the Velvet Room. He knew if he lost consciousness, he’d go back to reality and have to face his friends. He couldn’t do that so he tried to delay the inevitable. How could he ever look at them again? If he disappeared, he wouldn’t burden them anymore. He just had to stop existing and everyone’s suffering would end.

Well. Akechi would still be suffering. Akira had to help him first. He would end Akechi’s suffering and then his own. He nodded solemnly to himself, feeling that his flawless logic gave him clarity in his time of need. The idea of slipping away into the abyss with Akechi brought him the comfort he needed to take in a real breath and sit up. That was the first step.

The one single thing that Akira had that Akechi did not when it came to this scenario was that he had friends. His friends were counting on him to lead the Phantom Thieves. He didn’t believe he could, but they would come after their leader if he didn’t return. He didn’t feel like he could face them, but he knew they’d make him if he didn’t on his own. Eventually he’d have to see them so he decided to rip that off like a Band-Aid and then he’d be free to disassociate. 

He mustered up just enough strength to pick himself off the floor and leave the Velvet Room. He climbed the depths of Mementos back to the top on his own. Shadows didn’t dare to come near him so it didn’t take long. Funny. He wasn’t even worth murdering anymore. That sounded about right. He wasn’t in his Joker outfit, just regular clothing. He suspected Arsene wouldn’t answer his calls at the moment anyway and he felt okay with that. He didn’t feel the spirit of rebellion within him anymore.

When Akira found his friends upon his return, they seemed to recoil from the sight of their beaten, bloody, and broken leader. His teammates recovered from the shock and all rushed over to embrace him and shower him in relieved affection. They were happy he was alive at least, but they all backed off immediately when he flinched. They tried to ask what was wrong; they wanted to fix things; they couldn’t. Akira sent them all home, saying he had something to take care of. He tried to assure them to not worry but they just wouldn’t listen. Morgana tried to tell him to come back and go to sleep and he finally snapped.

“Just go home!” He looked frustrated, on the verge of tears. His eyes got wide as he realized how he’d reacted and he bowed his head apologetically, letting out one final plea. “…Please.”

The thieves were all worried sick about him but all quietly agreed to listen. It didn’t feel right to leave Akira alone somewhere so dangerous while he was injured but what else could they do other than follow his wishes? They all just hoped he’d manage to stay safe somehow. He didn’t plan to.

Akechi saw the whole thing, hidden in the darkness of Mementos. From his perspective, Akira had come out on top again. He was infuriated! Akira had kept their deal. He’d taken the hit. But he was still loved by all and Akechi was forgotten. He knew now that he would have to punish Akira more. He hadn’t been satisfied because he hadn’t truly taken from him the same amount that Akira had taken from Akechi.

Akira didn’t find Akechi quickly, but he did find him. They both had ended up at the very bottom of Mementos, at the entrance to a hell unknown to either of them. He turned abruptly as Akira approached him, gun raised. When he realized it was Akira, he lowered his weapon and watched him coldly. From this close, Akechi saw the full extent of the damage he had done. Akira looked wrong. He looked lifeless. He moved and talked a little but it was clear that his mind had gone to a different place and not quite returned. Akechi’s earlier malice started to lessen at that sight, unsure if he should continue with his revenge.

That being said, he was in fact going to continue. He couldn’t excuse Akira’s crimes, even if he had a tendency to look like a fluffy cat. That didn’t mean he could skirt justice.

“I’m surprised you can still stand.” Akechi took a good look at his rival, deducing a couple of things for himself. “You can’t fight anymore.” He took Akira’s silence as confirmation. He had crippled the leader of the Phantom Thieves. He couldn’t help the genuine smile that formed on his lips. He hadn’t expected to actually win. As cocky as he could be, he had definitely been losing to Akira all year. He finally won the war when it counted. The smile faded as quickly as it has twisted onto his lips. He still wasn’t happy. Maybe he needed to do more. 

“Mementos is no place for someone with no will. Why did you come all the way down here? Are you honestly this stupid, Akira? You came right to me! Why make it so easy?” Akechi laughed at him, flipping his hair back arrogantly. “Or wait. Don’t tell me. You actually believed I’d feel bad for you and see your side of things? Really? How could I? I’m honestly disturbed by your weakness. What do you plan on doing in your current state? Are you actually still planning on saving the world or whatever you preach about? Do you still want to save me?” He was doing a great job kicking Akira while he was down, along with boosting his own ego and confidence. He’d feel better this way, right?

Akechi watched something in Akira snap. Tears started streaming down the trickster’s cheeks. He looked like he was struggling to breathe. Akechi recognized this pain. He’d fought against it in front of every single adult he’d dealt with, every damn day of his life. He’d always remained so strong in front of everyone and here Akira had just sought him out specifically to cry? How sickening. Someone like that deserved to have his flame snuffed out. But then, that was now what Akira wanted, wasn’t it? Did he trek all the way down to the gates of hell to beg Akechi for death? That was sort of cute actually. Akechi pitied Akira and his inability to reconcile his fragilities. He felt that flickering satisfaction again. Was this it? Was hurting Akira what would bring him happiness? If that was the case, he couldn’t let him go now, or ever for that matter.

The tears on Akira’s skin eventually dried up in the silence between them and he weakly scrubbed his face clean under his glasses. Akechi looked like he was off in his own world. He looked satisfied. Akira realized his pain was bringing Akechi joy. He’d never seen him excited in the same way as when he was making Akira suffer. It wasn’t fake like the face he showed the world. So maybe he could help Akechi. He could make him happy by enduring his torment and then maybe neither of them had to slip into darkness after all. He felt as though he understood what shouldering Akechi’s burden entailed now. It wasn’t just experiencing his pain first hand. It meant experiencing all his pain with him. He’d been foolish to think it would be so easy, but he was happy to have thought of a good solution.

In their silence, the boys both came to roughly the same conclusion. Akechi came forward to close the gap between them and reached out, grabbing Akira into a tight hug, the hug he’d always wanted someone to give him. He’d give Akira what he wanted. Loki would never hug him. Shido would never wipe his tears. He was thrown in the trash by society. He would drag Akira into his garbage pile and treat him as he pleased. He was his toy. If he wanted to hug him, he would. If he wanted to cause him anguish, he would. Toys were for entertainment, not consideration. After all his deliberation, he concluded that this was definitely what he wanted.

Akira melted into Akechi’s arms and gripped the back of his costume. His hands shook and it ran through him from his shoulders to his legs. While he was trembling, he buried his face against Akechi’s chest and started to cry again. He felt weak. Usually helping his friends required his strength and he never minded being used in that respect. Akechi had use for him how he was now. It would make him happy and with that, Akira thought he’d also be happy. His tears were from pain, but it felt good too; he felt love as well.

They spent a while in Mementos. Akechi rubbed Akira’s back and ran his fingers in his hair. He kissed his tears away until Akira was too tired to cry anymore. He whispered something important to him as he started to calm down; he was telling him instructions. He wanted him to do something for him when he returned to the over world. Akira nodded, happy to comply. He was now Akechi’s little pet and Akechi would slowly train him to obey without hesitation.

They left each other temporarily after Akechi’s instructions. Akira promised he’d do as he was told and that he’d try to return as soon as he could.

“Akira,” Akechi said to catch his attention, before he could leave. Akira waited for his question. “Do you know what’s behind here?” He was referring to the end of Mementos, where they stood.

Akira thought. His head was still swimming and he couldn’t concentrate but he believed he wouldn’t have known anyway. He shook his head.

“Something,” Loki, “is telling me you should find out.”

Akira nodded and turned away again. This time he left for real. When he got back home to his attic, he managed to clean himself up and bandage his wounds. Morgana had been worried sick so he tried to reassure him, along with the group chat, that things would be all right. He didn’t tell them what happened.

Back in Mementos, Akechi waited by the portal to hell. Loki appeared before him, floating in front of him with a sinister aura.

“Was I not correct, boy? Have you not found your own strength without me coddling you?” Loki seemed to want to take credit for pushing Akechi and using tough love on him. Akechi was used to no one going easy on him, but now he did have more control than before.

“Yes. I suppose,” he said in his polite, fake-boy tone.

“What do you say then, if I am truly your savior?”

“Thank you, Loki.” Their smiles matched. Akechi was unsure if he felt happy or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School started but I had already written some of this right before so I decided to finish it up. Sorry for the infrequent posts! I hope everyone is having fun because the boys sure as sugar are not.


	3. Chapter 3

“How did you find out about this?” Morgana exclaimed, stretching out from Akira’s bag, paws on his shoulder.

The curious cat and the broken cat boy were in the hospital. It was the day after their most recent Mementos trip and Akira took them on a field trip to learn what was in the room Akechi had told him to look for. What they found was Akechi himself. In a hospital bed, hooked up to life monitoring machines, attached tubes keeping him alive, Akechi lay where he told Akira he’d find him. He was clearly in a coma.

This investigation answered Akira’s questions about why Akechi couldn’t leave Mementos. It was a unnerving sight but a relief to find out that he wasn’t just a ghost or a hallucination; he was alive. No one had discovered Akechi was behind the mental shutdowns either; no one was looking for him. He was just a poor, nameless boy, dying in the hospital. When asked, the staff had no idea if he’d ever wake up again. His home for the foreseeable future was in Mementos. He really was in hell.

Akira resolved to make him happy as his pet. He’d shoulder his burden even if it meant being used by Loki again. He shuddered at the thought, his stomach twisting.

“I can barely look either,” Morgana reassured, assuming Akira was panicking about his friend’s grim fate. “We’ll just have to keep visiting him until he wakes up.”

Akira nodded. All he could do was agree.

As the days went by, the temperature dropped more and the political climate around the Phantom Thieves’ failures did as well. They had made plans to go all the way down to the bottom of Mementos to find if there really was an end and if so, if they could change the cognition of the whole nation. Morgana and Makoto did most of the planning since their leader had grown silent and despondent. Between strategizing, they tried to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to be getting through. No one knew what happened to cause Akira’s waking coma, but he responded just enough that they found it acceptable to proceed with their plans anyway. 

All while this was going on, Akira and Morgana went to the hospital every day to sit at Akechi’s bedside. Akira knew this sentiment wasn’t reaching Akechi since he knew where he really was, but he felt compelled to wait for him anyway, just in case something changed. It didn’t.

On Christmas Eve the team travelled down to the very bottom of Mementos. It quickly became evident that Joker was unable to summon his persona for some reason. Shadows did come after them this time, attracted to the other team members. During the battles they fought, he tried a couple of times to summon Arsene, but couldn’t do it. The team almost quit but he just half-heartedly attacked with his melee weapon instead. It seemed to do the trick and they kept going. At least he’d managed to get a new dagger from Iwai before this trip.

Akechi was still at the entrance to the bottom of Mementos where Akira had left him. The whole team were varying degrees of shocked to see him. He didn’t bother plastering on a fake smile. He had revealed his true self to them already; there was no point in hiding it now. The only downside to his nasty attitude and the black mask outfit was that it made it seem like he was challenging the Phantom Thieves. They all clearly seemed to think that he was ready to pick a fight. They all had the same looks on their faces as Akira had when he was actually attacking him. They were wrong about this time.

However, it did seem that the anger didn’t run very deep. Akira probably never mentioned his being stalked or what had gone on between the two of them. Good.

“Dude, you’re alive?!” Ryuji exclaimed, always the first to make stupid commentary.

“We do not wish to fight you, Akechi. Please stand down.” Makoto tried to inject diplomacy into the situation before Ryuji could cause a war.

“I’m not going to harm any of you. Yet.” Akechi explained. He decided none of them needed to know about his arrangement with Akira. They’d only interfere. He had been right to stay quiet. “I tried to help you guys at the end, remember?”

“Well…” Haru started softly, contemplating what to say carefully before speaking, a sign of the status she grew up with. “I suppose that is true. Do you really believe in the Phantom Thieves now?”

“No.” He decided to tell the truth.

“So what the fudge are you doing here dude?” Ryuji cut in again, aggravated. “You’re not welcome in Mementos if you aren’t going to help, okay? Haven’t you screwed with us enough?!”

“Woah…” Ann shied away from his side a bit, surprised by his aggression. Except she also added in, “Y-yeah. Akechi you…killed people. We don’t want you here.”

“You killed my mom!” Futaba cried, rubbing her eyes under her goggles.

“And my dad,” Haru added solemnly.

“Do you even have anything to say for yourself, man? You should be in jail!” Ryuji kept cutting in. He could be such a loud mouth. 

“Ask Akira,” Akechi said simply and unapologetically with a blank expression. The whole group turned their attention to Akira who had been quiet the whole time up until then.

“Akechi is trapped in mementos. He survived the ship sinking but is in a coma now,” Morgana explained on Akira’s behalf, since he had seen it also.

“Oh no…” Haou gasped.

“Wait,” Ann said, “No one else who experienced a mental shutdown went into a coma. They all died.” 

“Maybe it’s because no one else had a persona,” Makoto postulated thoughtfully, unsure if that explanation even worked.

“Regardless, we have to press on,” Morgana cut that line of thinking short. “We can worry about Akechi later.”

“I don’t want that creep hanging out with us. He’s not invited,” Ryuji declared for the whole group and pointed at Akechi with a rude, accusatory finger.

“I must agree with Ryuji. Akechi might be experiencing something complicated, but I believe he cannot be trusted with the fate of society on the line right now…it’s also possible he deserves this.” Yusuke’s conclusions were harsh but the group seemed to agree with him if they were all being honest, even if it made them uncomfortable. Everyone was frowning at each other, uncertain of how to proceed.

“We could use his help…” Morgana attempted to argue on his behalf. It was unclear why he would sympathize with Akechi. Maybe he felt guilty. Nothing was actually his fault; it was all Akechi’s, so Morgana’s kindness seemed misplaced. 

Akechi finally spoke up. “I will stay here. I have no desire to play hero. Have fun.”

Ryuji wrote him off immediately and said, “Fine. Then it’s settled,” and with that, he rushed into hell.

The rest of the group followed suit, tentatively abandoning Akechi with various pitied, pained, and angry glances at him as they passed by. The group’s numbers lowered until all that was left of the gang was Makoto, Akira, and Morgana. Makoto seemed to find this move tactically irresponsible. Even if Akechi planned on double-crossing them again, it would be easier to do so without their eyes on him.

Makoto cleared her throat before speaking, choosing her words carefully. “When we return…I think we could all talk about what you did.”

“Makoto, I believe if you all succeed, I won’t exist anymore. There will be nothing to talk about,” he replied curtly.

“What if we found a way for you to wake up?” she said, desperate for some resolution. Her heart wasn’t closed off to those who had done wrong. She hated losing, especially losing people. Makoto wanted others to change. She really believed in justice and that Akechi would be saved if he just atoned. If they helped him, he could serve his time for his wrong doings and come out the other side a good boy. She was naïve but her beliefs would make her a strong cop on the side of justice one day.

Akechi laughed at all that, finding her ideals ironic and impossible. “The time for that would have been a while ago. It’s okay. You can abandon me without guilt. Everyone always has. Besides, you will have your hands full with Akira.”

Makoto immediately got defensive and snapped at him. “What did you do to him?!”

Akechi’s expression turned sinister. Morgana and Makoto both looked back at their quiet leader who seemed far away in his own mind. He had tensed up realizing that Akechi planned on dying. After all that? So what was even the point? Or was this Akechi’s final slight, to die alone and leave Akira like this, with no hope of ever recovering or fixing his mistakes. He grit his teeth and scowled, balling his hands into fists.

Morgana watched Akira’s mental struggle carefully and now understood how Akira had known where to find Akechi’s body. Akechi must have performed his mental shut down technique on him and that would have explained the time he was missing before. It all fit. The cat frowned. “Maybe we shouldn’t keep going…it’s dangerous. Akira could be hurt.”

“I agree but the others are already gone. We must go support them,” Makoto said while looking Akira over. They were going to have to carry him through the dungeon but it was either that or they’d have to abandon their friends. “Akira, just stay here. We can’t lose you.” Akira bit his lip and shook his head at her. “Maybe you could find out how to wake Akechi up?” She watched him look to Akechi for direction and realized this was beyond normal attachment. She came to the same conclusion Morgana had just moments ago. How terrible! She suddenly felt so powerless to help.

Akechi ran his fingers through his hair and addressed the group. “If there is an answer, it will definitely be on ahead, not out here.” He looked to only Akira and said, “If you believe I’m worth saving, then you will have to gamble both our lives on it.”

“You’re crazy,” Makoto hissed. “Akechi, like hell he would do something so dangerous when he can’t even fight. Morgana can just take him back out and I’ll catch up to everyone.”

As Makoto went on, she missed Akira making his decision and heading towards the entrance without another word. By the time she’d noticed, it was too late to stop him. She let out an exasperated sigh and pointed to Akechi. “You better hope everything works out or I’ll resurrect you and kill you myself.”

With that last threat, she ran after Akira. Morgana had already reluctantly followed his companion to protect him. They were all going to be in for quite the ride.

Akechi grappled with the idea of following along in order to watch them. Akira’s lack of goodbye indicated he was resolved to win and see him again but Makoto was right. At the rate they were going, everyone would no doubt end up dead. Akechi didn’t know if he wanted that or his own demise or both, but if he wanted to control the outcome, he’d have to follow them. He clearly wasn’t welcome so when he snuck through the entrance to the core of Mementos, he hoped no one would notice him following along secretly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I actually have up through chapter 8 physically written but not typed up so I'm not abandoning you guys. This arc will actually end at chapter 8 so I'm trying to decide if I want to wrap things up or drag it out more.
> 
> Thanks for all the support and kudos. Hopefully I don't let you all down.


	4. Chapter 4

Akira woke up in his own bed. His head swam. He didn’t remember going to sleep. He didn’t remember much of anything. When he opened his eyes he was surrounded by the relieved smiles of all his teammates. Had something happened? Did they win? He saw out the window that it was snowing and his calendar indicated that it was Christmas. It was the next day.

What about Akechi? He sat up abruptly and scanned the room until his eyes settled on a familiar tan pea coat. He sighed in relief. He didn’t know how, but Akechi was there too. He looked tired but had the same warm smile on his face as the rest of them. They must have won.  
  
“What happened?” Akira finally spoke up to ask.

“Uhm…none of us really know either.” Haru was the first to pipe up but didn’t have much to explain.

“Yeah but I think we must have won!” Ryuji declared.

Futaba nodded in agreement and laced her fingers together, resting her elbows on the bed. They all were standing besides her and Akechi, who sat far away on the couch, with his legs crossed and arm casually over the back. Maybe he was an illusion? Futaba spoke up. “We all woke up on the sidewalk and everything looked like it was back to normal. We must have won so hard we reset the whole world or something.” 

“Yeah even Akechi is back!” Ann added, knowing it would be the best news to Akira. It actually made no sense to him, since he would have woken up in the hospital, right? Was something wrong? He didn’t know but he’d figure that out later. For now he was happy and smiled to show it. He saw Akechi look away from the group despondently.

“It doesn’t seem like winning changed society much unfortunately,” Makoto said with a sigh. “But it’s only been a couple of hours so maybe we will see more results later.”

“We’ll just have to keep changing hearts as the Phantom Thieves if society keeps sucking then!” Ryuji said, hands aggressively on his hips.

“Hm. It does feel good to be needed. I wouldn’t object to remaining a team,” Yusuke said thoughtfully. Everyone seemed to agree. Akira couldn’t even wrap his mind around what they’d been trying to prove by entering that portal anyway. But Akechi was back so they accomplished something tangible, whether or not society really changed.

Akechi finally spoke up. “I suppose I shall leave you all to it then.” He uncrossed his legs and clutched his knees to push himself up. “Happy Christmas.”

“Wait,” Akira said, causing Akechi to stop leaving and look over from where he stood. “…Where will you go?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I understand that I am not welcome among you all. I would not want to impose. Thank you for what you all have done for me. I’ll respect your wishes and not bother you again.” He bowed.

“Cut the shit man!” Ryuji said with a frustrated grumble. “Akira obviously cares about you. You’d be an even bigger dick than you already are if you didn’t stick around.” Ryuji’s negative opinions aside, he wanted his best bro to be happy most of all and he’d protect him, even if it meant being friends with stupid fucking Akechi.

Akechi covered his face with his hand and began to laugh shortly after. “Really? After abandoning me and telling me I should be in prison, after everything I’ve done, you suddenly want me around? Is that true? Is that what you all want?” He moved his hand away to push his bangs back and stare harshly at the group.

The phantom thieves all looked carefully at each other, but mostly to Akira to ascertain his desires. Makoto spoke up after a long awkward silence. “I don’t think we’ve all forgiven you, but you’re a part of our team and should stay. Stay; at least until we can sort out what you’ve done. If you leave now, you’ll always be alone and running away. You’d fix your mess if you were really sorry.”

“What are you planning?” Akechi snapped back at her, not trusting the offer. “You just want to turn me in!”

Morgana cut in. “It’s true you need to atone, but we just want Akira to be happy. For some reason after all this, you’re still important to him so you better stay!” Everyone seemed to reluctantly agree for Akira’s sake. 

Akechi’s arm had been twisted enough for him to sit back down, crossing his arms and legs. He wasn’t fond of this arrangement, but at least he’d get to stay close to Akira.

A sudden pang of dizziness left Akechi shaking as he tried to brush it off. When he looked up, the corpses of the phantom thieves encircled the bed in a pool of gore. They had sustained various injuries to the point of almost being unrecognizable. Akira still sat on the bed where he’d been, untouched. He locked eyes with Akechi. He could see it too. Akechi shook his head and the world returned to normal. Everyone was alive and talking as if nothing happened. He felt himself break out in a cold sweat and he saw Akira hide his face in his hands. Something was wrong. Why didn’t he remember? What had happened at the bottom of Mementos? Loki should have given him the power to retain his memories at least. What was stronger than Loki?

After the whole crew had finally decided to call it a day and get some rest, they all filed out, saying Happy Christmas on the way out, and leaving Akechi alone with Akira and the meddlesome cat. Those who had family, planned to go spend time with them for the holiday. The group including Haru, without her dad; Yusuke, an orphan; and Ann, whose parents were still away on business; all decided to go out together. They sat in silence for minutes before Morgana got frustrated with the both of them and started whining.

“What is wrong with you two? You’re acting like zombies. Cut it out!”

“Sorry…” Akira muttered, groaning as he wracked his empty head for answered. “I think something bad happened in Mementos. I don’t know how we’re all okay, but something is wrong.” So he did see it and came to the same conclusion as Akechi.

“Hmm, so you noticed too?” Morgana nodded as if he’d been thinking the same thing as them. He could be so pompous. He definitely didn’t see anything. “I have a strange feeling but I thought it was just my heightened feline senses at work.”

A phantom chuckle could be heard through the room until the disembodied laughter formed a shape next to Akechi. It was Loki in all his splendor; well, some of it. Sitting on the couch was a normal looking human boy of around the same average age as the rest of them. He had black hair and multiple piercings in his ears. He wore a purple pea coat that matched Akechi’s and a red undershirt. The thing that made him unmistakably Loki was the black and white striped tie that matched the pattern normally painting Loki’s demonic body as they’d seen him in Mementos. To finish his ensemble was a pair of shiny, golden loafers. They all immediately knew who it was but that didn’t mean that they weren’t surprised by his appearance, including Akechi.

“L-loki?” Akechi stammered, backing away from him on the couch and settling on just standing up to create distance between them. Loki was like Shido to him. He would rather keep their interactions to a minimum, no matter how useful he could be. He’d never seen him in the real world before. He felt like his privacy was being invaded, even though, logically speaking, Loki knew the goings ons topside, even if he’d never been visible before.

“In the flesh!” Loki said with a nasty grin. “Sorry to intrude, boy, but I couldn’t help but overhear you lot discussing whatever seems to be going on and I’d like to throw in my two cents.”

“You’re not the one behind this?” Akechi asked bluntly.

“Me? Why, Goro, I am insulted you would think such things about me! I thought we were friends!” Loki placed a hand to his chest dramatically in mock exasperation. He dropped it and stood to face him. “No, boy. I didn’t cause this, but I wish I did.”

“Wh-How are you even here?!” Morgana stood on the bed, back protectively arched in front of Akira.

“I’m not certain either. I just decided to try to show up and it worked. The world we are in now is strange, but definitely the one we all belong in. I would know if it was a _trick._ ” Loki looked over the cat and the cat boy on the bed with contempt. “Whatever it is, even I do not know. I’ve lost my memories as well. That should not be possible.”

“Well what does that mean?” Morgana asked, resigned to get information even if Loki was their enemy.

“It means a real god has decided to meddle with this world, specifically with the persona users.” Loki stood up straighter, adjusted his tie, and brushed off his coat. “In this instance, I find myself on your side, shadow.” He ignored Morgana’s dirty look and Akira’s confused expression in the interest of carrying on. “I will offer the boy’s and my services until this has been solved. I don’t like being tricked and I intend to punish the foolish god that would dare try to skew my cognition.”

“You couldn’t possibly think that we’d agree to something so stupid? It could be a trap and you’re lying about not being behind it!” Morgana was cut off in his ranting by Akira.

“We accept.”

“Akira,” Akechi said urgently. “You shouldn’t make a deal with Loki…”

“Shut up, boy. We’re partners. Since when do you think you can disagree with me, you sniveling little—“

“I accept your deal but you have to be nice to Akechi,” Akira clarified the terms of his agreement. “And no mind crushing people,” he threw in for good measure.

Loki, the boy trickster who currently was parading around Akira’s attic as if that were totally normal, let out a dramatic sigh. “Wow that’s barely possible. But, fine.” He put his hands heroically on his hips. “See? Do you see how dedicated I am to our common goal; so much so that I would go against my very nature?” 

Morgana scowled and curled up protectively under Akira’s arm. “Yeah you’re real trustworthy,” he muttered.  
  
“I’m trying to tell you idiots that he isn’t!” Akechi growled, stepping towards the bed. “We can figure it out without him. I am a detective after all.”

“Yeah, a fake one,” Morgana said, voice dripping with malice. Akechi had hurt all his friends. Just because he was willing to work with him, didn’t mean he forgave him.

“Excuse you?” Akechi hissed, furrowing his brows angrily.

“Boys, please. This is stupid and boring. Let’s all stop being mean to poor Akechi. He’s so sad already that he cries himself to sleep every night as it is. If we continue ribbing him, he might go on another murder spree or kill himself. We wouldn’t want that now would we?” Loki tried to put his hand on Akechi’s shoulder but the boy shrugged him off and turned away, face red and hot. “Heehee! Look what you two did.”

Akira looked at Loki. He wasn’t amused. The trickster god was the cause of Akechi’s current suffering and had no doubt tricked him into him playing in Akira’s head. That being said, he had saved Akechi’s life when the _teen justice team_ ™ had failed to do so in Shido’s palace. So he wasn’t totally bad, just chaotic. If they could navigate around Loki’s bullshit, they could find out what was going on. They also would probably need his cooperation if they planned on fighting whatever the cause was, on the basis that Loki seemed to think it was a god. 

“If we’re all done yelling now, I’d like you, boy, to use your fancy wild card third eye,” Loki instructed Akira. “And tell me what you see.”

Akira had no idea he could use that power outside of the Metaverse, but he was about to find out why he could. He placed his pointer and middle fingers at his temple and activated his third eye. His irises glowed red and he could see what had been hidden. He saw it, the reason for the disturbance, the reason he could use his power, why Loki could appear, and why Akechi wasn’t in the hospital.

What Akira saw was gore. The floor was soft and squishy, an unidentifiable entanglement of what seemed like intestines and pulsing veins. The walls moved as if they had a heart beat. The room was colored in various shades of reds and browns, along with flaking rust and silver spider webs. A shimmering wetness coated each surface. It was condensation caused by the oppressive humidity mixed with the thick liquid dripping from the edges of the furniture and from rafters of the attic. The windowpanes were surrounded by large, rotting bone, skin still clinging on where the nails had been hammered into place, ripped off whatever creature it belonged to in jagged, bloody strips. A thick mist filled the air with a foul smell and pooled and stagnated towards the floor due to gravity; every movement kicked up more of the pungent aroma and particles of filth plumed like fireworks. The blanket Akira sat under was tattered and moldy. It housed pockets of squirming larva and larger bugs with an obscene about of legs feasted on them. Crickets buzzed incessantly from in indeterminable location, filling the room with their deafening screams, making it hard to think about much else. The mattress shook slightly, either from Akira’s shock, or from some unknown creature hiding beneath it. A bright puddle started to ooze out from under the bed, an eyeball lazily floating out atop it, notably missing it’s owner and confirming that there was indeed a monster below. Perhaps it feasted as well. 

Most importantly, Loki no longer looked like a human boy, but appeared as he normally would: tall, striped, and hovering a few inches off the ground, playfully clicking his pristine, golden hooves. His head rotated around his neck 360 degrees and then turned upside down, click clacking mechanically. He cackled faintly, barely audible over the roar of the unseen winged-insect kingdom hiding in all the nooks and crannies of the room.

“We’re still in Mementos…No…” Akira shifted to peep out his window to confirm his suspicion. “The whole world is Mementos.” 

Outside was much of the same. The air was hazy and the sky was red in an eternal, grim sunset. He could see the street, drenched in the same viscous fluid that coated his room. It had been snowing outside before but now the flittering crystals appeared grey like ash and red like blood. This was clearly what was leaking through the roof and into his room. The power lines were coated in sinew and organic waste, along with the gutters and in the trees. He could see people on the street but they couldn’t see the hell they were in. He saw an old man bite into an apple that was just rotten to the core. It had been full of bugs and they leaked from the apple and out of his mouth, crawling up his face to try to fit into whatever holes of his were dark and damp and hiding in his hair and clothes.

“What?!” Morgana scrambled to try and fruitlessly see what Akira could. 

“Bingo~” Loki sang. “What did you do, kiddo?”

Akira finally had to look away and pulled the neck of his shirt up over his mouth and nose. He had to force himself not to vomit but he couldn’t hold down his dry heaving. “I don’t know,” he said quietly, moving to sit at the edge of his bed. He kept his feet tucked under him to avoid the loose eyeball and flinched violently as he felt something fall into his hair. His skin crawled and he had to use all his strength to not look to confirm if there was anything in his clothing. He knew the answer was yes.

This situation seemed to be the reverse of a safe room; instead of being able to vaguely see the real world in gaps of cognition in a palace, the Metaverse had leaked into their view of the real world. Akira looked to Akechi who had grown silent. He wondered, as a fellow wild card user, if Akechi could see all of this as well. His friends didn’t notice the corpses earlier when he and Akechi seemed to both be able to, so it was possible he could see this too. 

“Can you see this?” Akira decided to bluntly ask after a moment, but Akechi shook his head. He looked to Morgana who also shook his head ‘no.’

Akira blinked until his third eye turned off and the world returned to looking normal. His room was dusty but clean. The air smelled like rain from his dehumidifier. The sun was behind a snow cloud, but it definitely wasn’t red. Most of all, Loki, the only thing that shouldn’t have been there, looked like a boy again, rather than a giant, thin, jester puppet. He couldn’t get what he saw out of his head, but he tried to suppress his panic for now.

“I don’t know why you’re so upset. It’s nothing new,” Loki said mockingly. “And here I’d thought Akechi had broken you completely. A little blood should be nothing in comparison to what you experienced, shouldn’t it?”

Akira looked down. Loki was dredging up still-healing wounds, but he was also right. Akira had experienced trauma lately that paled in comparison to the grime of Mementos. Perhaps wiping his psyche clean of the effects of Loki’s mind breaking powers was a side effect of whatever had changed everyone’s memories.

“Akira, I’m sorry for what I did to you…I hope you can forgive me,” Akechi said suddenly with a bow. His apology was a real surprise. Maybe it was just to defy Loki’s expectations of him. It could have also been whatever was at work. If this could change everyone’s cognition and even erase Akira’s trauma, maybe Akechi could have also been reformed in the same way. Witnessing Akira’s pain had been making Akechi happy until then, so why else would he apologize for it? 

Akira looked at him resolutely. “I told you I would take on your burden. If you feel good now, then I’m happy if I was able to help you achieve that. There’s no need to apologize to me.” 

“Thank you. And thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt and convincing me to stay, Morgana. I think…I think I’m happy with this.” Akechi looked at the people in the room and smiled a real genuine smile, the first in a long time. He hadn’t thought about it until then, but since waking up, he didn’t feel lonely or sick anymore. He’d only tried to leave initially so as not to burden Akira further. Reflecting back on how he’d behaved in the past made his thought process seem out of the ordinary to say the least. He might have been acting weird but everything about their current situation was weird. Did it matter? He finally felt happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to the "things I wrote before my nano and never posted until now" comedy hour, staring yours truly.
> 
> I hope you all like Loki. He's a fucking gem. I gave him a teenage persona era look to how he is in Devil Survivor.
> 
> Honey is less popular than HoWs but I want you all to know it technically takes place in the same metaverse, so if you like House of Wolves, you might end up liking this too but idk, they are fairly different (and yet not really since I have certain things I like all the time.)
> 
> I have 5 more chapters fully written and I know the next arc for at least two more. I also have a ton of HoWs I need to edit and a really good one shot no one but me is going to like. So there will be more to come, just you wait.
> 
> Anyway, stay tuned for more updates!


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